A Karate-ka's Journey to Master Oneself

Month: February 2017

I’ve been neglecting this a bit. Plenty of things to write about. Since each one is important I will give a little time and a post for each.

On February 6, something happened that I did not expect in the slightest. BJJ class, doing rather well with drills, did some rolling and it was going well! Then all of a sudden I hear Kyoshi’s voice:

“Dougie!”

I glance at him but figure it’s just him saying hello or good job or keep it up. I bow and keep on rolling. I hear him again:

“Dougie!!”

Still a little confused. I bow again. Because I’m swift like that.

“Dougie! I appreciate the bowing but get over here!!”

Which shows how surprised I was. Didn’t even figure he wanted to see me. So I go over and bow down. I’m there before Kyoshi, Fariba and Isaac. Kyoshi pulls a piece of tape off of his kimono and grabs my belt. He tapes it up with my first stripe. A surge of pride swept over me. I may just finally be getting it. A stripe. In Jiu Jitsu. Wow. It’s finally starting to click.

The Brazilian Jiu-jitsu obi with its first stripe

I can’t lie. I’m pretty stoked. I’ve been hitting the mats a lot more often lately and even I can tell I’m starting to roll with a bit more proficiency.

So. Once again, I have sat down, looked at my complete game and made the following points: my Karate game is on point. Like, ridiculously on point. I’m practicing all the damn time, in kata and hitting the bag. I’ve kinda studied forward a bit and taught myself the kata “Jion” which is required for the belt after my next belt. I’m even learning how to say all of the stances, strikes and blocks in Japanese. To be perfectly frank, I am so immersed in my Karate studies that it has detracted from my Brazilian Jiu Jitsu studies. Hard detracted.

Now the problem is that there are two types of classes: Beginners (that’s me) and the regular class (which is sometimes me). I have slacked. I am not even gonna lie. There are BJJ classes legit almost every day of the week. Beginners on Tuesday and Thursday, Regular class on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. How many classes have I been going to lately? That’s correct. Zero. I always seem to have an excuse: I had to work late. I’m tired from Karate class. I have other stuff that I have to go do. I’m just plain God damn lazy. But not anymore.

I looked at my BJJ obi and was like, I’ve been here for over 6 months and it is still blank. They say that the average BJJ student should progress by a stripe every 6 months and here I am. With nothing. I’ve learned a bunch, had my ass handed to me on more than one occasion, had the occasional AHA! moment, but I have lacked any and all forms of consistency. That has to change. I’ve made it known that I am going to strive to be at 2-3 classes each week. Without fail. Because in order for me to progress and learn more and actually be able to put this newfound knowledge into any sort of reasonable practice, it needs to be used and cemented and made second nature. Just like my Karate studies.

I went twice this week, Thursday’s beginners and Saturday’s regular. When speaking with Professor Fariba afterwards, she did mention that I “move well” and “have natural talent.” However, as I’ve said before, hard work beats out natural talent, when natural talent fails to work hard. So I’ve turned over a new leaf and am shooting for that level of dedication. Obviously some weeks I won’t be able to get to 2 classes due to work and outside influences. And sometimes I’ll push myself and have the time to go to all 5 classes. Just cuz! So who knows. All I know is that I need to put in more mat time and start actually practicing BJJ instead of being that guy who shows up sometimes.

On top of this, I’m also switching up what I’m doing in the gym. Rather than lifting heavy for fewer reps, I’ll be lifting a little lighter for more reps with less time in between sets. I’m also dedicating myself to doing more cardio (which at current time is zero lol). My last workout consisted of lighter weights for back and triceps, 20 minute bike ride (5 miles) and some boxing cardio conditioning training. I have this cool app on my phone which times out 3 minute rounds. So I do a round on the heavy bag followed by a round of jump rope. Managed to get out 6 rounds the other day, so I just gotta push it harder and get my cardio up there.

I’m also trying to actually stay focused on what I eat. That part is the hard part. The gym and the dojo are easy. The kitchen is the place I REALLY need to shape up in!

Either way, hopefully it all goes as planned. I hope to be in more pictures like this: